Digital Divide

USDA Accepting Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Applications

The US Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service is accepting applications under the Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) grant program for fiscal year (FY) 2024, subject to the availability of funding. Based on FY 2023 appropriated funding, RUS estimates that approximately $60 million will be available for FY 2024. Successful applications will be selected for funding and subsequently awarded to the extent that funding may ultimately be made available through appropriations.

ACP Consumer Survey

In December 2023, the Federal Communications Commission conducted a survey of Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) recipients to enhance its understanding of the program's impact and how the end of the program may impact access to broadband services. Survey respondents were also given the opportunity to submit written responses to questions about how losing ACP support would impact them.

Some RDOF and CAF II Auction Census Block Groups are Eligible For Other Funding Programs

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) announced that BARConnects and North Alabama Electric Cooperative have notified the FCC  that they will not fulfill their commitment to offer voice and broadband service to certain census block groups (CBGs) within their Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) and/or Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II auction supported service areas.  These providers will be subject to penalties for the CBGs where they are defaulting.

Rep Spanberger Leads Virginia Lawmakers in Working to Protect $30 Internet Discount for Virginia Families, Fund Affordable Connectivity Program

In a letter to the House Committee on Appropriations, Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-7), Don Beyer (D-VA-08), Gerry Connolly (D-VA-11), Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02), Jennifer McClellan (D-VA-04), Bobby Scott (D-VA-03), and Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10) called for the appropriators to prioritize extending Affordable Connectivity Program funding and expressed the critical need the program meets by connecting hundreds of thousands of Virginia households with affordable, high-speed internet.

Congress can’t let affordable broadband slip away

In less than two months, if Congress does not act, tens of millions of people could find themselves unable to stay connected to high-speed internet.

Broadband experts, community groups & internet providers urge FCC to free up rural communities to receive broadband subsidies

A coalition of nearly 70 broadband experts, internet service providers (ISPs), community leaders, and nonprofits wrote to the Federal Communications Commission with a request to grant a limited amnesty designed to prevent the exclusion of America’s least connected rural communities from upcoming federal broadband subsidies. Under the rules of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, communities that are already covered by grants awarded under programs like the Rural Digital Opportunities Fund (RDOF) and Connect America Fund II (CAF II) are not eligible to receive BEAD fund

Only Conservatives Can Save the Affordable Connectivity Program

Our federal deficit is exploding, and America’s financial house is in disarray. The country’s borrowing costs are at their highest level in over 20 years, and the national debt has surpassed $34 trillion for the first in history. In this environment, implementing stringent fiscal policy should be the standard operating procedure for all conservatives.

'$30 Goes a Long Way': SNAP Households and the Affordable Connectivity Program

Recently, we surveyed over 1,700 Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) enrollees who use the Providers app about what the broadband benefit has meant to them and how their lives will change if it expires. Here’s what we found:

Can Internet Service Providers Absorb the End of ACP?

State broadband offices are asking internet service providers interested in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding to self-fund a $30 discount for low-income customers after the end of Affordable Connectivity Program. Since this request came from multiple states, I have to imagine the idea came from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. I can’t think of any better proof that policymakers are out of touch with the reality of rural business plans. Even providers that are successful in rural markets are going to have small margins.

President Biden gave $90 billion to red America. The thank-you went to spam.

Poor infrastructure, small number of customers, bottom of the list: That is the story of rural broadband in the United States. The situation is much more than an annoyance for the 7 million U.S. households that still do not have access to broadband internet — 90 percent of them in rural areas. Many times that number are “underserved,” with speeds below 100 mbps, or have high-speed broadband infrastructure but can’t afford service.

Mayor Cherelle Parker is all in on Philadelphia’s digital inclusion efforts

Amid a slew of executive appointments and policy changes, local government workers will feel assured that Mayor Cherelle Parker (D-PA) plans to continue the City of Philadelphia’s digital equity work.

Breaking Barriers: Examining the digital exclusion of women and online gender-based violence in Sudan

In a globalised world where the internet transformed our earth into a small village, the global South is left lagging. Internet accessibility remains a major hurdle facing a large proportion of people in the global South. The situation in Sudan is no exception. In the light of the economic instability, political turmoil and the United States-led economic sanctions imposed on Sudan, internet accessibility and making beneficial use of the internet are a real challenge, especially for women. This research explores the barriers to women’s access to and use of the internet in Sudan.

An American-Made Internet for All

When we released the proposed Build America, Buy America (BABA) waiver in August 2023, we estimated that our approach would mean close to 90% of BEAD funds spent on equipment would be spent on equipment manufactured in the U.S.

New Broadband Funding Opportunity for Rural Communities

This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announced the latest window to receive applications for Rural eConnectivity (ReConnect) Program support to extend broadband networks in rural areas.

North Carolina Moves Ahead With Broadband Equity Project Grants

North Carolina is moving forward with a digital equity grant program to bring broadband access into more underserved homes, as part of a larger mission to have all of these homes connected to the Internet by 2029. The North Carolina Department of Information Technology’s (NCDIT) Office of Digital Equity and Literacy will award $14 million in grants to community organizations such as local nonprofits, libraries, educational institutions and others.

Rep Pallone & FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel Call for Congress to Keep Internet Service Affordable for New Jersey Families

Rep Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel called for urgent congressional action to extend funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program. The program provides eligible households with a discount on their monthly internet bills. Currently, 338,000 New Jersey families are benefiting from the program, including nearly 24,000 households in Rep Pallone’s Congressional district.

Testimony: California’s K–12 Digital Divide Has Narrowed, but Access Gaps Persist

The COVID-19 pandemic made digital access an educational necessity and highlighted California’s longstanding digital divide—defined as disparities in reliable access to internet and digital devices. In spring 2020, when schools shifted abruptly to distance learning, only 68% of households with school-age children had reliable access to digital devices.

Next Century Cities Releases Fifty-Six State and Territory Resource One Pagers

The Federal Communications Commission paused enrollment for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which has reached over 20 million households across the US, who represent only a fraction of residents eligible for the program. Absent additional funding, the program is set to expire in April 2024.

Hey philanthropy: Don’t let BEAD break your heart

If you follow broadband news, you’d be forgiven for thinking we’re about to end the digital divide. That sentiment has dominated recent conversations we’ve had with foundation leaders who, having initially joined the chorus of voices calling for digital equity at the height of Covid-19, are now drifting to the sidelines, under the impression that the government’s broadband spending push will solve the problem. It won’t. Despite its ambition, the latest round of public investment will not reach all 42 million Americans still living without internet access.

Illinois Launches BEAD Challenge Process

The Illinois Office of Broadband formally launched its Challenge Process on February 20, 2024, starting the 120-day clock to get the broadband map right. The Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Challenge Process gives Illinois non-profits, local governments, residents, and internet service providers the opportunity to weigh in on the broadband availability map to ensure funding is going where it is needed most.

AT&T to Deliver Fiber-Powered Broadband Access to more than 2,000 Customer Locations in the Town of Sevastopol

The Town of Sevastopol (WI) announced a project with AT&T to expand AT&T Fiber to more than 2,000 customer locations across the town. Under the $7.4 million public-private project, AT&T will provide fiber services to residential and business addresses in the Town of Sevastopol in Door County. Extensive planning and engineering work for this project will begin in the first quarter of 2024.

Illinois Broadband Director is a State Broadband Veteran

Illinois Broadband Director Matt Schmit is no newbie, nor is the state’s broadband office. In 2019, Illinois’ $45 billion capital investment plan included $400 million to fund a new broadband program that would be dubbed “Connect Illinois.” That summer, Schmit was recruited from Minnesota to stand up the office that would oversee the grant program and Illinois’ broadband efforts.

Another BEAD Mapping Mess

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration made a monstrous mess of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program maps when they decided to allow licensed fixed wireless to be counted as reliable broadband. This has a huge ramification for the BEAD grants. It has made maps into hodgepodges of served and unserved homes.

Why Leading with Digital Equity Matters

Maine is the first state in the country to have its Digital Equity Plan approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). This is a major accomplishment in that this represents the first statewide Digital Equity Plan to ever be developed for our state (and the first tied to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—also known as Bipartisan Infrastructure Law). And, it is fitting that our Digital Equity Plan can now be put into motion ahead of any infrastructure deployed through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.